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Atoma

The innovative disc-binding system used in Atoma’s notebooks gives you the best features of wire-bound books and ring binders in a single convenient notebook.

Sheets can be easily removed and added, just like a ring binder

Folds back on itself to save desk space, like a wire-bound pad

Wide-edged discs hold the pages together

Mix types of paper in a single book

Add smaller sheets to larger books

Use the punch to add your own paper or printed sheets

Atoma are so renowned in their native Belgium that the name is often used as a general term for notebooks of this type - an atoma, in the same way we refer to any vacuum cleaner as ‘a hoover’. But why settle for a copy when you can have the quality of the original Atoma system?

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Adding and Removing Pages

To add pages, just lay one or more pages along the book, and push down on either side of each disc - the paper should slip neatly into place. Try with one or two sheets first - you can add quite a few at once when you’ve got the hang of it.

To remove pages, just peel a few pages at a time from the top, pulling directly away from the remaining pages. Try with just one or two sheets at first - they should pull away fairly easily.

Pages can be removed and inserted quite a few times with Atoma’s own paper. Paper you’ve punched yourself is likely to be less resilient, and won’t last as long.

Uses for Atoma Notebooks

With a system this flexible, you can really use it however you like - we’re all different, so we don’t all need the same notebook.

You can make perfectly good A4 or A5 notebooks, with just one single type of paper, with the added advantage that you can remove used sheets to file away or recycle, and add more pages whenever you need to. Make the book as thick or thin as you need, and don’t carry 50 used pages of notes if you don’t need them.

Mix paper types - maybe you sometimes like to sketch or doodle, but you always need to take notes. If so, keep some blank pages at the back of a lined notebook. If you want a small sketchbook, but also want your shopping list in there, add some lined sheets at the back of a plain notebook.

You can even mix sizes. Have an A4 notebook for meetings, but keep a few A6 sheets on the front for quick corridor notes, or scribbling down something to peel off for someone else.

Other Disc-Binding Systems

Once the patent on Atoma’s disc system expired, many other companies started making copies. In the US, Levenger’s Circa system is popular, and here in the UK, the Staples Arc system is better known. Atoma is the original, and is probably the best quality of its type, with over 65 years of experience at making a system that works well. Real Atoma paper is made with longer fibres, at 90gsm, so it’s stronger. Why buy copies when you can have the quality of the real Atoma system?

History

Georges Mottart had led “Papeteries Mottart”, a paper wholesaler, since the 1920s. André Thomas and Andre Martin developed the disc binding system there in 1948, and their surnames gave it a name - ThOmas and MArtin, giving us Atoma. The success of the system led the company to refocus purely on making Atoma notebooks.

80% of their production is still carried out in Belgium, to maintain the quality of their products.

Michael Jecks

Author Michael Jecks, known as the master of the medieval murder mystery, loves using these notebooks, and loves the flexibility of the system. See more about how he uses them here: